First Week of Law School Forum

[Redzo]

This approach is most definitely premised on the notion that all you'll need to know, come exam time, is the holding of the case and perhaps some of the reasoning that the court used to reach it.

And don't get me wrong. I do enjoy reading the cases and considering the historical and social context. But I also feel there is good reason to believe that it's not necessary to retain most of that information, as shoeshine indicated.

This is going to sound lame and gunner-ish, but I actually enjoy reading judicial opinions and I have actually read several recent opinions on my own that are not related to school at all.

[td6624]

I hear a lot of people saying this, but how in world do you create an outline? I mean you won't have any book notes, so are you just planning on including what the professor says in your outline?

if it's in your book but the professor never mentions it, it probably isn't going to be necessary to have it in your outline. in my experience, anyway.

[northwood]

from what ive gathered so far- the casebook gives you the law, your professors tell you what part of the law to hone in on.

[downing]

This approach is most definitely premised on the notion that all you'll need to know, come exam time, is the holding of the case and perhaps some of the reasoning that the court used to reach it.

And don't get me wrong. I do enjoy reading the cases and considering the historical and social context. But I also feel there is good reason to believe that it's not necessary to retain most of that information, as shoeshine indicated.

This is going to sound lame and gunner-ish, but I actually enjoy reading judicial opinions and I have actually read several recent opinions on my own that are not related to school at all.

By itself I don't think implicates you as a gunner in the least. But if you raised your hand in class simply to show off your impressive breadth of legal knowledge and boundless enthusiasm for cases unrelated to class discussion, you might be a gunner. (IMO gunners are the loud, egoistical, and unhelpful students. The successful ones are the hard workers)

[TheFutureLawyer]

Has anyone been synthesizing cases? I'm pretty sure in all of my classes we have the syllabus structured around certain topics and have finished 1 or 2 of them already for each. Should I go ahead and synthesize those, or is that what the outline is basically and you wait till later to start that? I'm thinking I'll probably start synthesizing this upcoming weekend or the next.

[jarofsoup]

Has anyone been synthesizing cases? I'm pretty sure in all of my classes we have the syllabus structured around certain topics and have finished 1 or 2 of them already for each. Should I go ahead and synthesize those, or is that what the outline is basically and you wait till later to start that? I'm thinking I'll probably start synthesizing this upcoming weekend or the next.

Outline is kinda like synthesizing......

[johansantana21]

Has anyone been synthesizing cases? I'm pretty sure in all of my classes we have the syllabus structured around certain topics and have finished 1 or 2 of them already for each. Should I go ahead and synthesize those, or is that what the outline is basically and you wait till later to start that? I'm thinking I'll probably start synthesizing this upcoming weekend or the next.

What does that mean? Synthesizing cases.

I just have the topic..i.e JUDICIAL REVIEW and the cases below it. If it's some major subtopic under judicial review i.e REVIEWING STATE COURT DECISIONS, I have cases under that.

Duno if i'm doing it right.

[TheFutureLawyer]

Synthesizing is when you take a bunch of cases that all have some legal issue in common (or pretty much in common) and try to turn all those rulings on specific facts into a single general rule (this is what I think it means anyway).

[071816]

Outlining = synthesizing a class

Briefing/Case summaries = synthesizing a case

[TheFutureLawyer]

Briefing/Case summaries = synthesizing a case

I'm not sure about that, maybe you wrote it wrong. I think it'd be more like:

deriving a single rule from cases dealing with the same legal issue = synthesizing cases

[071816]

Briefing/Case summaries = synthesizing a case

I'm not sure about that, maybe you wrote it wrong. I think it'd be more like:

deriving a single rule from cases dealing with the same legal issue = synthesizing cases

Yea I think that's generally right. It depends on what you mean by "synthesizing" I guess. I just sort of meant summarizing a case as opposed to pulling out the relevant doctrine.

[AreJay711]

Briefing/Case summaries = synthesizing a case

I'm not sure about that, maybe you wrote it wrong. I think it'd be more like:

deriving a single rule from cases dealing with the same legal issue = synthesizing cases

That kind of seems like a bad idea since on the exam you will likely be in some magical land with no case law and with an improbable case that the main rule will likely fall one way on but all the reasons for the rule will point the other way or a minority / bs you made up will lead to a much better social result. I think you might want to retain these slightly off cases as argument pieces for the exam rather than a derived rule but that always depends on your prof of course.

[JCougar]

(which I often do by just copying stuff from online, which is usually summarized better than I would have done and helps me to understand the main point of the cases better)

This is a bad idea for several reasons.

1. Reading the cases and pulling out the issues and holding from the opinion (and sometimes being wrong) seems to be a very important part of the learning process.

I don't really think it's all that hard to pull out a holding from a case. Half of the opinions you read say something like, "thus, we hold in this case that..." or "we adopt the following rule:" The other half are aren't that hard, either. You can tell from the first three words of a paragraph whether the judge is going to get to the point or not.

The hard part is maintaining your attention span through the meandering sophistry and "filler" that constitutes the rest of the case. And then thinking up that same "filler" to puff up your "analysis" points on a law exam.

[PinkCow]

Seriously. I am in the process of taking a 4 day weekend. I might do some reading tomorrow.

2L don't care

Just curious. Are you the 2L that hangs out in the lounge like...all day every day?

[mths]

Seriously. I am in the process of taking a 4 day weekend. I might do some reading tomorrow.

2L don't care

Just curious. Are you the 2L that hangs out in the lounge like...all day every day?

I think I've been to the school 3 times in the last 2 weeks so...no

[BarbellDreams]

Oh the wonders of being a 2L. I would love to get good grades but honestly it doesn't much matter anymore. If I wasn't working for a firm during the school year I would have a 5 day weekend every week.

[Naked Dude]

Seriously. I am in the process of taking a 4 day weekend. I might do some reading tomorrow.

2L don't care

Just curious. Are you the 2L that hangs out in the lounge like...all day every day?

I think I've been to the school 3 times in the last 2 weeks so...no

So after 1L, law school is...undergrad?

[mths]

Seriously. I am in the process of taking a 4 day weekend. I might do some reading tomorrow.

2L don't care

Just curious. Are you the 2L that hangs out in the lounge like...all day every day?

I think I've been to the school 3 times in the last 2 weeks so...no

So after 1L, law school is...undergrad?

you feel guiltier

[Naked Dude]

I can deal with guilt...

[jarofsoup]

I am now experiencing a work load that is hellish. I look back on this post and it makes me sad.

[Peace of Mind]

I read nearly 8 hours per day.. I think I am going to be crazy..

you're doing it wrong

Good God, TITCR. All of you are needlessly giving yourself heart disease.

+1,000,000; so many people in my class are stressed out all the time; i'm concerned with what is going to happen to their anxiety levels once finals rolls around.

i read and brief cases in less than 5 minutes; even contracts! however, sometimes it takes a little longer for contracts if it's a particularly difficult case but generally about 5 minutes.

to the person reading 8 hours a day... i would think about taking a speed reading class, it can do wonders!

[northwood]

heres to being 2 and half weeks ahead of all of my readings, and being done by 5pm every day......

[ilovesf]

is anyone else going over trademark/copyright/patent in property? we spent a long time on it because our prof specializes in IP, but it isn't in the e&e

[FeelTheHeat]

I am now experiencing a work load that is hellish. I look back on this post and it makes me sad.

lololol

[morris248]

is anyone else going over trademark/copyright/patent in property? we spent a long time on it because our prof specializes in IP, but it isn't in the e&e

It is not normally covered in the first semester property classes but it is in the second semester. There is an E&E just for intellectual property.